A. Specific Aims/Hypotheses: 1. The Wnt signaling components are expressed and functional in developing murine embryonic palatal tissue. 2. The molecular interaction between Smads and dishevelled is mediated through specific domains and post-translational modifications. 3. Multiple levels of cross-talk exist between the TGFbeta and Wnt signaling pathways. 4. The Smad-dishevelled interaction influences the progression and outcome of signaling from each pathway.